Real stories · The coat that fits over the big jumper

Every coat I own loses the fight with a thick jumper — this one swallows them whole

The coat that fits over the big jumper — that's what this is. I'm 67, and every winter contains the same small daily fight: the good thick jumper goes on, and then the coat refuses to follow. Sleeves bunch at the elbow, shoulders jam halfway, and I leave the house feeling like an overstuffed sofa with a handbag.

What I wanted was a coat that treats a chunky jumper as expected, not as a surprise.

Then I found the Meravine from a British label called York Boutique — a swingy cocoon of a coat with wide batwing sleeves, a zip, patch pockets and a hood trimmed with gloriously fluffy faux fur. I chose the pink, which deserves its own sentence: it is PINK, and I love it. There's white, brown, red and grey for the sensible.

The cut is the whole idea. The batwing sleeves and roomy body mean any jumper simply disappears inside — which is why getting dressed in January stopped being a wrestling match: no bunched sleeves, no jammed shoulders, just coat on, zip up, out. The ribbed cuffs close the drafts out at the wrist, the fluffy hood stands ready for whatever York's weather is planning, and the pink makes every grey pavement look better photographed.

Batwing sleeves and a roomy cocoon shape swallow the thickest jumper whole — no bunching, no jamming, no overstuffed-sofa feeling. And the pink turns a grey January street into a better photograph.

I'll be honest: £59.95 made me hover for two evenings — until I remembered it was half the usual £120, and that I'd worn last year's too-tight coat open all winter out of sheer defeat. A fortnight to send it back, free delivery. The pink won.

It has since done the market twice, one drizzly school pickup and a great many compliments — including one from a complete stranger at the flower stall, which Sandra maintains doesn't count. It counts. It was £59.95 in the sale, half the usual £120.

If your coat also loses the annual fight with your jumpers, do have a look. The Meravine is rated 4.7 out of 5 by more than 190 women, it comes in pink, white, brown, red and grey, in sizes XS to 3XL — and at half price the pink goes exactly as fast as you'd think.